DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- A GODLY LINEAGE

DAD'S RAMBLINGS - A GODLY LINEAGE

"This is the genealogy of Shem….." (Genesis 11:10)

Genesis – the book of beginnings. This is the story of the beginning of the lineage of the Lord Jesus through Seth, Noah, Shem, and Abraham. You can trace the complete lineage in Luke chapter 3.

Following the disaster of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and their dismissal from the paradise of the garden, they had children. The firstborn was an ungodly son, Cain. Then Abel was born. Abel was righteous and he was murdered by Cain. Then Seth was born, and he became the progenitor of the lineage of the Lord Jesus, our Savior. Seth's family tree included such people as Enoch – who walked with God. But the ungodly people – including the offspring of both Cain and Seth – got so bad that the earth was filled with violence and evil. God saw that it was so totally corrupt and very wicked, that He was sorry that He had created man. He was so grieved in His heart (6:7-9) that He determined to destroy them all. But Noah, a righteous man, found grace in the eyes of the LORD, and he and his family were spared God's judgment through the building of an Ark. Thus the godly line was preserved. There would have been no Savior – even for those righteous people who lived before the flood – if Noah and his family had not been saved from the flood.

What joy Noah must have had to see Shem and his children remaining faithful to God. This is not to imply that all of Shem's offspring were godly. But to see a family following God's way is a blessing indeed.

My father was the first, and I believe the only, born-again Christian in his family. He and my mother had three children – a daughter who became the wife of a Southern Baptist minister, my brother who pastored a deaf church in Hawaii, and myself – whom God called to be a pastor. As I look at my children, I find great joy in seeing some of them serving the God of my father, and grandchildren who are following God, one as a missionary to Spain. But I also know the sorrow of seeing some who are not serving God.

To see our children following God is a great blessing. As the Apostle John wrote, "I find no great joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" (III John 4). Thank God for godly families. May their number increase.

Love, Dad